1. Field of the Invention
The invention is in the field of live television studio production and more particularly, embedding real video of remote objects into the footage generated at the studio.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, in live interviews with a remote participant the remote video is inserted into a separate window on the frame using standard studio device known as Digital Video Effects (DVE) device. Thus, the remote participant seems to be in a separate place. However, it is desired to integrate remote objects into the real studio such that they are apparently present in the studio. Such integration can either be done seamlessly for a realistic look or intentionally highlighted or manipulated to produce a virtual look such as in a “star wars hologram”. To this aim, the remote object should acquire the same changes that occur to objects present in the studio when the studio camera is moving, panning, tilting or zooming while capturing the studio scene. The studio camera may have up to seven degrees of freedom—translation (x,y,z), rotation (pan, tilt, roll) and zoom. A change in the value of each one of these parameters immediately entails a perspective or another change in the appearance of studio objects on the video. The remote object image should change accordingly as if the remote object was a real object present in the studio. The video image of the remote object, updated every frame, should thus be achieved in real time for any possible pose of the studio camera and with resolution high enough to afford close-up situations.
In the prior art, Orad Hi-Tech Systems used a method to seamlessly embed remote scene into a local one, relied on a remote robotic camera slaved to the studio camera in all degrees of freedom. Thus, any change in the location, pan, tilt, roll angles and zoom value in the local camera entails the same change in the remote camera; remote objects will thus automatically acquire the same perspective of the local ones. The problem with this method relates to the long motion time associated with the robotic camera's translational movement, rotations and zooming processes. The resulted lag imposes unacceptable delays that are prohibitive for live interviews, as well as too many other types of live television studio programs.
It is an objective of the present invention to embed remote objects and scenes into the studio footage in real time and with a short latency allowing for live interview and other close interactions between local and remote objects.